inner-view #6 [one with nature]

1. Tell us a little about yourself. What was your biggest conquest, what is your biggest dream?

I’m a 21year old archaelogy student, I currently live in Padua, Italy. I’ve been in love with Art, in all of its forms, since I was a kid. My biggest conquest? I think life is an endless struggle, I guess I’ve never had the time to stop, catch my breath and say “So, here I am, this is my victory”... In the end maybe the biggest conquest in someone’s life is the ability to feel and express Beauty, no matter what happens. I’m not very much into “big dreams”, I’d be happy to live a quiet life, with the people I love, maybe in a snug cottage in the middle of the woods, surrounded by animals and doing what I love the most: drawing and writing.

2. Which technique do you use to draw and paint? Do you have any secrets?

Recently I’ve been using watercolours and graphite, a technique that I find very fetching... Water is unforeseenable. I also use oil paint, acrilics, digital colouring. Every artist has its secrets, but they wouldn’t be secrets anymore if I reveal them.

3. In your drawings there is a mythology aura, very inspiring and touching. What’s your favourite mythology? Do you have a favourite myth?

I’m very fond of mythology. Myths are not “just stories”, they are everlasting keys that are able to open doors of wisdom, knowledge, cosmos. I love all european mythologies, from greek, to slavic, celtic, etc... They’re all different languages that disclose the same essence. It’s hard to tell whitch is my favourite myth... One of those that I love the most is the one of Demeter and Persephone.

4. In the social art site deviantArt I saw that you are a member of several pagan groups (as I do). Are you a pagan? What do you enjoy and feel about this religious belief? Do you think we’re returning to our origins (more close to nature)?

As one old chinese proverb goes “No matter how tall the tree is, its leaves will always fall to the ground”. Yes, Nature is my belief. Paganism is about rediscovering our own roots, recovering the right balance and harmony with Nature, sensing the divine in everything that sorrounds us. I think that humankind has come to a crucial crossroads: on one side lies the barren desert, caused by human greed, blindness, disrespect towards Nature; on the other side flourisches a world built on harmony and temperance, that is aware that man is not above Nature, but part of it, and has no right to submit it. By praising the Gods and Goddesses I feel I’m walking towards this flowery path.

5. One of your works is called Sturm und Drang, which I found very curious. Do you usually put your emotions above your reason? In which situations you do otherwise?

I strongly believe in the virtue of the “aurea mediocritas”, as Horace would call it, the “golden mean” that stands between two extremes. Although I’m very attached to the concept of the sturm und drang, for it rappresents the most deep and enigmatic corner of the human soul, that can’t be controlled by reason. The unconscious has always been for the artist a dreadful and delightful Muse.

6. What does inspire you? Do you have a technique to get inspired more easily?

I found inspiration everywhere: in an autumn landscape, in an old song, in a dusty attic, in a hot cup of tea, in a exciting trip, in the purring of a cat on a boring and cloudly Sunday afternoon... We only need the right trigger to set our immagination in motion. I don’t have any special technique.

7. Do you have a time of the day when you work better? If so, what are the differences you find when you work in a “good” time and a “bad” one?

I usually work better in the evening, maybe because of the quite atmosphere. When it’s “bad time” I don’t work at all, I’d probably just scratch the paper and throw all away... You can’t force yourself to create if you’re not in the mood.

9. Artists are, sometimes, cursed with blockage. What do you do when that happens?

I just turn on the stereo and listen to some music, it helps me clear my mind from the overwhelming thoughts and let inspiration resurface. I remember painting The Lady of Shallot for hours while listening to the same song, Corelli’s La Folia, and old european musical theme played with violins.

10. Do you feel the need to be constantly motivated or it’s easy for you to find joy in what you do?

Motivation is not a problem for me, I’d draw all day long if I could. However, I find joy only if I’m completely satisfied by the work I’ve done, and that doesn’t happen so frequently, I tend to be very strict with myself and hard to please.